When it's time to make the root beer, Roy Miller goes downstairs into a small, dark basement.

Just like his dad did 50 years ago, Miller adds sugar, water and a special mix into a huge vat. It gets stirred and then piped upstairs through a special carbonation machine. From there, it gets poured by draft into frosty mugs at the Dog N Suds in Ingleside — often by Miller's daughter, Robyn Miller Clark of Lindenhurst, or his son, Brad Miller of Ingleside.

"They don't make root beer this way anywhere else," said Roy Miller. "That what makes it so creamy."

Miller's Dog N Suds — one of about 14 remaining Dog N Suds left in the country and among only a handful still run by the original owners — is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year in the sleepy town of Ingleside, population of about 9,000, next door to Fox Lake, population of about 10,000.

"This is family. We are the originals. We keep it like it was," Miller said.

Has this 1960s-era icon lasted this long because the owners still do things the old-fashioned way, making homemade sauce for the char burgers using the original recipe and shredding the cabbage for the coleslaw? Or is it the memories of cheeseburger-eating contests in high school and getting into the family car to go for a root beer float?

Or perhaps it's the Saturday nights in summer when Miller's Dog N Suds hosts a cruise night, where folks can show off their classic cars, listen to music and indulge in root beer and char burgers.

Well, yes, all that, but longtime patrons say it's mostly because of the Millers, who have run the drive-in since it opened on the corner of Rollins Road and Washington Street.

Four generations of Millers have worked at the Dog N Suds, and "four generations of my family have come here," said Donny Schmit, mayor of Fox Lake.

Schmit added that, "Roy and his family have provided jobs for local kids who've gone on to college — and Roy supports the community." For example, Miller sponsors local Little League teams, something his parents started in the 1960s.

"We feel like we're part of Roy's family," said Schmit, sitting at a red picnic table with some other patrons on a warm summer day across from the drive-in.

Sheryl DeVore / Lake County News-Sun

Roy Miller, owner of Dog N Suds in Ingleside, shakes the hand of long-time customer George Pugh Jr., who was there when the drive-through opened 50 years ago.

Roy Miller, owner of Dog N Suds in Ingleside, shakes the hand of long-time customer George Pugh Jr., who was there when the drive-through opened 50 years ago. (Sheryl DeVore / Lake County News-Sun)

Red-and-yellow design

Visitors in 2017 look at the same red-and-yellow, butterfly-wing designed building they would have seen when it opened, and the same iconic sign featuring a floppy-eared dog wearing a chef's hat holding a wiener and mug of suds.

The pull-in parking spots — each with their own menu and an intercom to place an order — are still there, as are the car hops who bring out the food on trays that can be fastened to the vehicle window.

Dog N Suds was a growing chain in the 1960s, founded in the early 1950s by two music teachers from downstate Champaign who were looking for something to do in the summer, Miller said.

At one time, 600 Dog N Suds drive-ins were open in 38 states. But after the owners merged with another company and amid the arrival of the new fast-food drive-thrus, the franchises closed one by one.

Of the 14 left, two are in Lake County — one in Ingleside and the other in Grayslake, which has been operating for 53 years under several different owners. Another can be found on Route 12 in Richmond in nearby McHenry County.

Roy's parents, Jerry and Evelyn Miller, bought a Dog N Suds franchise for $500 after they razed a building on property they owned that caught fire. The Dog N Suds was built on that property. Back then, a small root beer cost a nickel.

Roy was studying music education at the time and later got a teaching job, but when he was about 25, his parents said they needed his help, so he left his job and joined the family business in 1971.

"Not much was going on around here, so it was a big thing" when the Dog N Suds opened in Ingleside, said George Pugh Jr., a patron for 50 years.

Miller family / News-Sun

Miller’s Dog N Suds in Ingleside has hosted cruise nights on Saturdays in summer for more than two decades.

Miller’s Dog N Suds in Ingleside has hosted cruise nights on Saturdays in summer for more than two decades. (Miller family / News-Sun)

He and his high school pals headed to the new place in town on their bicycles, not knowing what it was, he recalled. "It turned out to be like a hot dog stand," he said. "I've been here so many times since that I think I own two of the parking spaces."

"This is a blue-collar town. We didn't have a lot of money growing up," Schmit said. "It was a real treat to come here and get a root beer float. My dad would bring out the car, we'd get in and you had to time the float just right before you started eating it. You waited until the ice cream started to get crystals."

Once, he and his high school pals had a cheeseburger-eating contest.

"We were going to impress the girls, "Schmit said. "I ate six. Another guy ate eight. I don't think the girls were impressed."

Another longtime customer, Greg Murrey of Fox Lake, said he and his friends had an even better idea.

"We were going to see if we could eat everything on the menu in one day," Murrey said.

"They didn't get all that far," Miller said, grinning.

Murrey said he and his high school friends used to help Roy and his parents by bringing hot dog buns from the Ingleside restaurant to the Waukegan location, which was open year-round with an indoor eating space. The Millers purchased that location because Roy said he wanted his own place to run. It has since closed.

Murrey and his friends didn't get paid to transport hot dog buns, nor did they get paid when helping at a friend's dad's business across the street.

"It was fun," Murrey said, adding that's what kids did back then, because "they didn't have social media."

Murrey admitted, however, that he did reward himself by "borrowing" three original mugs with the Dog N Suds logo on them.

"I proudly display them in my kitchen window," he said. "Miller's Dog N Suds is part of my history."

Sheryl DeVore / Lake County News-Sun

Robyn Miller Clark of Lindenhurst pours a draft root beer at Milller’s Dog N Suds in Ingleside, owned by her family for 50 years.

Robyn Miller Clark of Lindenhurst pours a draft root beer at Milller’s Dog N Suds in Ingleside, owned by her family for 50 years. (Sheryl DeVore / Lake County News-Sun)

Third and fourth generations

Brad Miller, who runs the daily operations when the eatery is open spring through mid-October, said he started working at Dog N Suds when "I was big enough to stand on a five-gallon jug and clean the mugs."

He obliges many a customer who asks to put special messages on a sign outside the drive-in.

One couple had their first date at the Dog N Suds — so the man proposed to her there with a sign saying, "Will you marry me?"

"They came back every year on their anniversary" until they moved out of town, Brad Miller said.

The sign lately has read,"Welcome home petty officer Katie Maximena."

She just came back from military service, Brad Miller said, "and she told me the first thing she wanted to do when she got back was to go to Dog N Suds."

Roy Miller also owns a laundromat next door where patrons can order food from Dog N Suds via a phone. His wife, Sherrill Miller, runs a beauty shop in Antioch where they live. And their young grandchildren are starting to help out at the drive-in.

Miller also runs cruise nights on Saturdays in summer. He started the event, featuring live music once a month, at the request of a father and son who wanted a place to park their classic cars.

Sheryl DeVore / Lake County News-Sun

Memorabilia from Dog N Suds, in operation for 50 years in Ingleside, is showcased at the historical museum a few blocks away from the eatery.

Memorabilia from Dog N Suds, in operation for 50 years in Ingleside, is showcased at the historical museum a few blocks away from the eatery. (Sheryl DeVore / Lake County News-Sun)

Dozens to hundreds of old car owners and classic car lovers head to the drive-in to show off their fancy vehicles, order food and dance to music.

"We try hard not to miss all the special nights for the bands," said Carla Pugh, George Pugh Jr.'s wife. "We're already calling up our friends and saying it's Neil Diamond night at Miller's next Saturday. It's such a fun night and you can look at the old cars."

Teens still hang out at Miller's, especially right after school gets out, Roy Miller said. Visitors come from many miles around to experience the old-fashioned drive-in, he said, and Mary Murrey, a former Chicagoan, said when she visits friends in the city, they say they often take trips to Ingleside just to visit the Dog N Suds.

Adults continue to bring children to the drive-in for special treats. Raul Gonzalez and his daughter, Sophia, recently rode their bikes to the eatery and ordered ice cream.

"This has been here since I was a kid," Gonzalez said. "It's perfect. It reminds you of where you came from."

Sheryl DeVore / Lake County News-Sun

Roy Miller makes the root beer in the basement of the Dog N Suds in Ingleside like his father did 50 years ago.

Roy Miller makes the root beer in the basement of the Dog N Suds in Ingleside like his father did 50 years ago. (Sheryl DeVore / Lake County News-Sun)

Sheryl DeVore / Lake County News-Sun

George Pugh, Jr., a patron since the Dog N Suds in Ingleside opened 50 years ago, has a root beer on a warm summer day.

George Pugh, Jr., a patron since the Dog N Suds in Ingleside opened 50 years ago, has a root beer on a warm summer day. (Sheryl DeVore / Lake County News-Sun)